The Steward Legacy
by Yllems
Summary: As the second son of a wizard whose name is associated with dark magic, Eli's first year at Hogwarts was never going to be average. However, it's only when he gets the resources to investigate questions he's been asking himself for years that Eli truly gets into trouble. After all, curiosity killed the cat…
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't own Harry Potter. Hopefully that is a good enough disclaimer for the legal types.

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><p>Eli's trip to buy his first-ever wand hadn't gone as well as he had hoped. He had been stuck, on what was supposed to be his day, herding his little sister away from every shop with a bright display because his older brother hadn't bothered. Ethan had gone gallivanting off with his girlfriend at the first opportunity, disregarding the simple, specific instructions their father had left when he'd put him in charge. Eli was still furious after he and his siblings had flooed back home.<p>

Eli left the fireplace for the living room couch and roughly drew out one of his new textbooks, _A Standard Book of Spells: Year One_, while Ethan set a fire in the hearth with a lazy flick of his wand and Liana settled down on the floor. Eli had only just gotten the cover of his book open when a letter fell over the title page.

Eli eyed his brother, who had dropped the letter without explanation, as if he were an owl, before settling back into his usual place at the other end of the sofa. He picked up the letter with as much distain as he could convey, and, seeing that Ethan was unapologetically ignoring his look and was about to delve into his own schoolbooks, he said, "What's this?"

"A letter from Miranda," he said. "She's meeting us at Platform 9 ¾."

Liana jumped up to see, displacing their family cat from its place on her lap. "Your aunt? But she never sees _Ethan_ off."

"Two missed years is not never," Eli said, pulling the letter out of the reach of Liana and glancing at his brother.

Ethan said, "So it's either third times the charm, or she really wanted to make your first year special."

Eli avoided his eyes and pushed off his half-sister's continuing attempts to steal the letter. "Isn't it your bedtime, Liana?"

But Liana was allowed to annoy Eli for half an hour more before Ethan declared that she'd been awake long enough. He extinguished the fire and left soon after that. However, when Eli got tired of the bland first-year spell book, he just put it down and moved on to his Defense Against the Dark Arts book.

Harry Potter's defeat of Dark Lord Voldemort was covered extensively in an introduction by the book's author, but Eli couldn't find any specifics on exactly how he did it. After skimming most of the chapters and coming up empty, Eli thought, _Some textbook,_ and he flicked the book into a pile with the rest.

Almost in answer, the logs in the fireplace erupted in green flame, and Eli sat up straight. The green flickered once, then died out. Eli slowly stood. Their floo travel was supposed to be restricted, so Eli stared at the white rectangle that had appeared amidst the flames for a moment before he stepped over and picked it up.

Whoever had sent the letter had a flashy taste in delivery methods, but the letter itself was plain. They hadn't even used a wax seal to close the envelope, and the only addressing information was Eli's father's name, Ezra, written in a slanted cursive.

Regardless of the sender's intent, Eli wanted to see what they had to say. He had the suspicion that the letter wasn't sent from the ministry, and, since his father wasn't home, he didn't feel bad about trying to open it himself. After an hour of increasingly desperate attempts, Eli learned that it could not be ripped, steamed, cut, bitten, ground, or salted open by any physical means. It was enchanted to only open for his father.

Eli piled his supplies together, tucked the letter in one of his books, and went upstairs to his room. He packed everything in his suitcase, placing the book with the letter in it at the bottom. He would deliver it to his father when he figured out why it was sent in the first place.

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><p>Stepping through the intangible bricks that served as a gateway to Platform 9 ¾ was a disconcerting experience. Eli decided he would close his eyes next time, if they ever took the King's Cross entrance again. He had thought he would like the muggle world, but, with Liana disappearing every other minute and Ethan complaining about the 'assault on his senses', Eli regretted taking the opportunity his father's absence had provided.<p>

The platform was a relief to see, even though the crowd of people waiting for the train to Hogwarts was enormous. There were Wizards dressed in robes mingling with other parents as they waited to see their kids off as opposed to Muggles in suits pushing at him and knocking the carrying cage in his hand that held an increasingly irate cat.

Ethan and Liana came through after Eli, Ethan pulling Liana behind him.

"I was only looking for a bathroom, I swear," Liana said, as she pulled her hand out of Ethan's grip.

"Don't swear lightly, Liana. Especially when you're obviously lying."

"I'm not lying!"

Ethan directed Liana over to Eli without taking her hand again, and said, "Alright then. I'm taking Liana to the bathroom. You find Miranda and we'll catch up."

Liana pouted, but she wasn't going to contradict herself by protesting the unnecessary trip. She looked around the platform and stormed off before Ethan could make her follow him. Ethan quickly told Eli where they were supposed to meet their aunt and then chased after Liana before she disappeared in the crowd.

A smile crossed Eli's face for a split second before something crashed into him from behind. He tumbled to the ground along with his magically expanded travel case and cat cage, dragged down by his assaulter.

Eli turned under the weight and half-hit half-pushed a short brunette girl off of him and to the ground. He sat up and said, "What the-"

"-Oh Jesus, I am so sorry. I was closing my eyes, and I was running, and I couldn't stop. Are you hurt? Do you need help?"

While the girl babbled, Eli picked himself up and tried to reign in his anger. He carefully collected a shaken Nigel's cage. "I'm fine. Although I can't speak for him."

"Oh no. I am really sorry." She peeked in the cage. "Sorry Nigel."

"Next time-" Eli picked up his suitcase. "-don't run so far. The transition space is thin."

The girl nodded vigorously, making her already loose ponytail even messier. "Seriously. Not a first impression I want to make often." She started collecting her things, including three suitcases, a backpack, and a messenger bag. "I don't know what's wrong with me today. So many things have been going strange."

"First day jitters, maybe," Eli said, smoothing down his own hair in response to hers. "But I need to find somebody, so if you'll excuse me."

"Oh yeah, sure. See you later."

Eli nodded a goodbye. The girl distractedly waved while trying to balance her ridiculous pile of luggage. She fumbled at the messenger bag and dropped her suitcase again, but Eli left her to it.

Eli took his time finding his aunt, enjoying the casual activity of wizards and the presence of magic around him. He even stopped to buy a newspaper, and sat on a bench while he updated himself on notable events in the wizarding world. The ministry's restrictions on his father's travel meant that he didn't get out much, and he had missed a lot.

By the time Eli did get to his aunt, Liana and Ethan were already standing by the regal blonde woman in silence.

Ethan spotted Eli first. "Eli, it's about time."

"Sorry. I had a hard time getting through the crowd."

Miranda said, "I wanted to talk to you, Elias. You shouldn't have dawdled."

"Well, it's too late now," Ethan said. "The train's about to leave." He picked up his stuff and turned toward it. "Come on."

"Wait," Miranda said. "Your father isn't coming?"

"Not that I know of," said Ethan.

Miranda looked over to Liana. "Then who's taking care of her?"

Eli said, "Father is going to be back any day now."

"Merlin. She can't live on her own. She's nine."

"She'll be fine," Ethan said. "Liana knows how to handle herself for a couple days."

"It was bad enough when you were all together. No, she'll live with my parents."

Liana's head shot up. "What?"

"But she doesn't even know them," Eli said. Liana was his half-sister. She wasn't related to he and Ethan's mother, so she had even less experience with Eli's grandparents than Eli did.

Ethan said, "She's not your daughter. You can't just take her."

"Ezra is lucky I'm not reporting him. He can pick Liana up when he remembers that he has responsibilities."

"You know he can't-"

The train whistled, and Miranda shoved Eli and Ethan forward. "You're going to miss the train. Go, I'm not changing my mind."

"Alright then, fine. I don't care," Ethan said, picking up his and Eli's traveling cases. "Maybe she'll learn how to behave."

"Hey!" Liana said.

"Ethan!" Eli partially agreed with his brother, but Liana didn't deserved to be dismissed. "She doesn't even know them," he repeated.

Miranda said, "Don't worry, Elias. My parents don't hold grudges against nine-year-olds."

Ethan said, "Bye, Liana. Have fun," before disappearing into the train car.

Eli looked between the train and Liana's furious expression, and stepped up into the train. He said, "Think of it like an adventure. A vacation."

"I don't want a vacation."

"An adventure then."

The door to the train slid shut, and Eli waved through the window at Liana. Liana didn't wave back, and the train gave a lurch and started forward.

Eli caught up to Ethan walking through the isle of the train car. His brother gave him back his suitcase, but otherwise paid him no attention as he searched for somewhere to sit.

Eli watched him while he glanced in a few compartment windows before saying, "Maybe Liana's better off." When Ethan said nothing to that, Eli continued, "She doesn't have Royel like we did."

Ethan turned on him so fast he made Eli step back. "What does Royel matter?" he said lowly.

Eli gaped for a fraction of a second, then matched his brother's tone. "What do you mean, 'What does Royel matter?' He took care of us."

"Are you stupid?" Ethan said, whispering because of the public space, but managing sound intimidating all the same. "I took care of us."

"No. He—"

"He was a house elf, not your family."

"Don't say that," Eli said.

"You still can't see it." Ethan said. "You think he cared about us at all? He hated us. Or don't you remember how quickly he left when the H.E.L.P act was passed?"

"That was—"

"He left, and good riddance. You need to get over it."

Eli didn't say anything, and Ethan watched his face for a moment before letting out a mean scoff and turning away from him. Eli let him continue his search.

As they moved into the next car, Ethan said, without looking back, "We both survived fine and Liana is no different."

Eli didn't know if he expected an answer because he just continued on checking in windows when they were in the next car.

Eventually, Eli said, "Are you looking for your friends?"

"Obviously."

He didn't say anything else.

Near the middle of the train, two cars from where they had gotten on, Ethan smiled at a compartment window and waved at his friends inside. He stood straight and turned to Eli. "Go find yourself some other first years. They mostly have compartments in the back."

"What? I thought I was staying with you."

"I haven't seen most of these guys all summer. Sit with someone else."

"But I don't know anyone."

"That's why I said find first years."

Eli didn't know why he was always surprised when Ethan ditched him. He picked up Nigel's cage a little more and said, "Fine."

Eli said a curt goodbye to his brother, and walked away before he could manage to say anything else mean. Behind him, he heard a door slide open and a chorus of happy greetings directed at Ethan. Eli headed for the back of the train.

He didn't even look for empty compartments as he walked. The only thing he was focused on was not jostling Nigel's cage when he heard a commotion in the compartment to his right. Eli had been subconsciously planning on barging in to the very last compartment on the train, but he stopped at the noise, mentally shrugged, and opened the door.

A chocolate frog hopped out. Eli debated for a split second what to do while he turned his attention back on the compartment. In the middle of a heap of papers, hiding under a book, was the girl from the station.

Eli smirked. "It's gone now," he said. "You can get up."

The girl was more frazzled than before. She had redone her hair in low-set ponytails, which were just as messy as the single ponytail had been, and her clothes were twisted. She slowly set the book down and looked at the mess around her. "I only wanted to have a snack while I read."

Nigel hissed from inside his cage, and the girl looked up.

She said, "Oh man you're the boy I crashed into before, I swear I'm usually more composed than all this."

Eli walked in the compartment to fully inspect the damage, and the door slid shut behind him. "I don't think it's really your fault. Frogs are only supposed to have one good hop."

The girl stood up and started cleaning. "No, it's that Algae kid's fault. He gave me the stupid gremlin." She cleared off a seat next to the door and gestured to it. "You can sit down if you want. I'm going to try and salvage my notes."

Eli took his seat and watched the girl sort through the mess. The girl held up the papers for a second, which had small chocolate footprints stamped across them, but then gave up and shoved them all in her bag. She cleared the rest of the seats, stuffing the papers in at random, and sat down with a huff. "I guess this isn't a very good second impression either. I don't know how I'm going to manage magic without blowing myself up."

"Oh you're not that bad. You'll be fine."

"As long as I stay away from chocolate frogs." She sat up straight and said, "New start." She held out her hand. "My name is Natasha. It's a pleasure to meet you…"

Eli shook Natasha's hand, and said, "Elias Steward."

"I'm happy at least some wizards have normal names."

"What do you mean?"

The door slid open with a thunk, and Natasha jumped in her seat.

The boy standing in the doorway said, "Hey, Nat. Look who I found."

A girl moved into the doorway behind him, and said, "Are these your friends?"

"Algae," Natasha said. "I told you I don't know anyone here."

"Yeah, I know. This is Imogen. Imogen, meet Nat."

Imogen nodded at Natasha, and Algae seemed to realize that Eli was there.

He puffed up and said, "Hi. I'm Algernon Agrippa Skylark. Who are you?"

"Elias Steward."

"Nice to meet you," he said, smiling broadly. He turned back to Natasha. "How'd you like the frog?"

"It was horrible," she said.

He frowned, but Natasha scooted over to give him room to sit, apparently forgiving him. He sat down next to her, and Eli moved to let Imogen sit.

As she did, Natasha said, "Where did you two find each other?"

The girl idly checked her nails. "I was just standing outside my compartment when Algernon walked by and asked if I needed a seat. I don't actually know him."

Algernon said, "Then we're all in the same boat, unless you and Elias Steward here know each other."

Imogen looked Eli over and said, "No..." Then her eyes caught on something on the seat beside him. "You read the newspaper? Did you hear about Governor Winslow?"

Eli looked at the paper he had gotten back on the platform, to buy a second of time. He had been reading it so he didn't look ignorant, but he'd never heard of some random Governor. He said, "Winslow. Winslow. I'm having a hard time placing the name."

"He's the Governor of Education, well, was the Governor of Education, I guess."

"Oh. Of course."

Algae said, "Oh I know what you're talking about. My dad said they arrested him for misusing school funds. My dad's an Auror."

Natasha said, "A wizard cop? Did he arrest him?"

"Well… no. I don't think so. But he could know the people that did."

Imogen said, "It's not just the school funds the ministry is worried about. Governor Winslow is the one who maintained the contracts on the creatures of the forest. They have to appoint a new Governor before the contracts break."

Algae frowned at the girl across from him, and said, "I've never heard of any contracts."

"You don't think the acromantulas stay in the bounds of the forest because they're peaceful, do you?"

Natasha broke in. "Did you say tarantulas?"

"Acromantulas." Eli said, relieved that he had something to contribute to the conversation. "They're basically tarantulas the size of cars, except they rely more on their pincers to crush you than their venom."

"And you say these things live in what forest?"

"The one right next to the school." Algae said, back to his smiling self. "They call it the Forbidden Forest, but I think sometimes they make the really bad kids do detention in it. At night."

Imogen said, "Well they probably won't do that anymore."

Eli said, "And Acromatulas usually look for easy prey, so they probably won't attack the castle."

"But watch out if you're walking alone," Algae said, "They can really… jump!"

A tarantula-sized frog went flying at Natasha, who squealed and struck out blindly. Algae laughed, but the chocolate frog kept hopping and soon they were all defending themselves from its attacks.

"I charmed it to have more hops. Isn't it cool?"

"No!" Natasha threw her bag away when the frog landed on it, and the compartment floor was filled with her papers again.

"Oh come on. It will run out in a little bit."

Imogen smacked away the frog as it sailed through the air towards her, and it landed on Natasha again. She squealed in frustration.

Imogen said, "Did someone help you alter the enchantments?"

"Nope. I have my own wand now, so I don't need anyone to help me anymore."

Eli reached past Imogen and threw open the door, and the frog sailed into the aisle.

Eli slammed the door shut after it, and said, "No more frogs."

Algae said, "They really aren't-"

"Or I'm going to kill you," Natasha said.

"Fine, but you didn't even give me the chance to show you what happens when there's a bug in the room," he said. "Hey, maybe that's why it likes you, Nat. Get it? Gnat?"

Natasha said, "Very funny, fungus. Now help me clean up."

As Algernon picked up Natasha's papers again, he commented on the notes she had taken. She had gathered as much information she could on the wizarding world, and had an endless serious of questions about its workings. For the rest of the train ride, Algernon, Imogen, and Eli answered all they could, and time flew by. The four of them were in the middle of a conversation about Natasha's muggle life when the train lurched to a stop.


	2. Chapter 2

While older students got taken to Hogwarts castle in carriages, the first years were left to wait next to an enormous black lake for a different, unspecified form of transportation. Eli, Natasha, Algae, and Imogen stood around dutifully for ten minutes, waiting for a teacher to appear and guide them to their destination. When none appeared, Algae plopped himself on the ground and settled down. He ripped up grass as Natasha smoothed her uniform and Eli gazed at the fog covered castle in the distance. Imogen wandered into the crowd, telling them she was going to ask around for information about what was taking so long.

Natasha, while adjusting the knot on her tie for the fifth time, eventually said, "There must be something wrong."

"It looks fine to me," Algae said, throwing some grass at her.

She gave up on looking presentable, kicking dirt back at him and only managing to make the back of her too-big flat come off. "I would have been able to see that myself if you guys had let me get changed a little longer," she said, since they had all practically pushed her off the train instead of letting her obsess so long she got taken back to platform 9 ¾.

Imogen walked back to them as Natasha stepped back into her shoe. She said, "No one seems to have any better plan than to wait around for an hour."

"That can't be right," Natasha said. "We should find an adult that knows what's going on."

"Whoever you find is just going to tell you to be patient," Eli said, fiddling with his shirt cuffs. Natasha's restlessness was contagious.

"No harm in trying is there?"

Imogen said, "Elias is right, it sounds like a waste of time."

Natasha said, "Doesn't anyone want to come with me?"

"I'll go," Algae said, standing, and he put his arm around Natasha's shoulder. Seeing the face she made at him however, he put it down. "It'll be an adventure."

"I only want to make sure everything is on track," Natasha told him.

Imogen and Eli looked at each other, shaking their heads.

Algae shrugged. "Come on then, Gnat. We're wasting time trying to convince these dagmires."

He dragged her off, with Natasha rolling her eyes but smiling a little at his over exaggerated enthusiasm. Although Eli didn't want to go with them on their goose hunt, he was still almost disappointed that they were going without him.

Eli and Imogen watched them leave, then Eli inhaled and looked out at other first years. They seemed to be divvying up on their own in the boats docked at the lake.

"First years usually take the boats across," Imogen said, having seen where Eli was looking. "Some people want to try rowing across the lake themselves, but that's just the stupid ones."

"You don't think they can do it?" Eli asked idly, while he counted the boats and the crowd. There were fifteen boats and nearly sixty students. The exact numbers were hard to get while everyone milled about, but it looked like the plan was to seat four to a boat.

Imogen eyed him sideways, and said, "There aren't any oars. Unless one of them knows some Transfiguration, they're going to be stopped before they can start."

"Oh," Eli said. The boats were filling up fast. Soon, there wouldn't be any grouped seats left.

"Don't you know the boats are propelled by magic? I assumed, since you waved to someone when the carriages left..."

_She assumes I know more than I do_, Eli thought, but his brother hadn't told him much about Hogwarts. He hardly knew which house was which, beyond Slytherin. Eli said, "We should try to find spots anyway. Natasha and Algae will have to catch up."

Shrugging, Imogen said, "Alright. I think I can get us in with those two over there." She nodded to the left, and started walking.

Eli wasn't sure which two people she had gestured to, but he followed her. In a moment, he and Imogen had skirted the crowd to get to the first pier, where four boats were floating, unsecured, at the end.

A splash to Eli's left caught his attention as they passed. In the water next to the pier, a boy was struggling against a Water Horse roughly his size, wildly disturbing the calm of the lake.

Imogen glanced toward the sound, then said, "Come on."

"Wait," Eli said. Nobody else in range was rushing to help, but it seemed odd to just ignore the boy. To him, Eli called out, "Can you swim?"

The boy looked at him angrily, still keeping a prodding Water horse at bay. "Of course I can, this stupid thing won't let me get near the dock. Distract it or something." His hand slipped on its face, spurring it to shoot water at him with its snout. He splashed it back.

Eli looked around for some solution, then saw Imogen's uneasy expression. He said, "What is it?"

Although the boy was still struggling and not paying them any attention, Imogen lowered her voice. "That's Wright Abernathy. I wouldn't get near him if I were you." She eyed Wright again, then gave Eli a grim frown. "Come on," she said, and continued up the pier without waiting for an answer.

Eli started walking, but kept his eye on the splashing in the water.

The boy, Wright, wrapped an arm around the Water Horse's neck for a moment and caught Eli leaving. "Wait, where are you going?"

"You seem to be handling things okay," Eli said.

Wright shouted after him, "No, I'm not. Hey! Come back." He splashed water at Eli, and the Water horse whinnied happily.

Still walking, Eli shrugged at him, and said, "I've got to get a boat."

Leaving behind the angrily splashing boy, Eli headed towards the farthest boat on the opposite side, where he spotted the silhouette of Imogen standing with another person her height. Before he got close, the other person had left Imogen to come down the dock. He nodded when he passed Eli, a gesture which Eli bemusedly reciprocated, then continued off the dock.

Imogen was talking down to two people sitting in the boat nearby when Eli approached, but she cut off her conversation to acknowledge him. She said, "Elias." And the way she looked beyond him to where Wright would be made Eli think she was relieved he hadn't helped him. "These are Matthias Crow and Vito Travers," she said. "Matthias, Vito, this is Elias Steward."

Eli went to greet them, but he got caught on the appearance of the boy Imogen had introduced as Vito Travers. The boy was the one who had just passed him, or, as Eli amended when his mind caught up, the identical twin of the boy who had just passed him.

Vito rolled his eyes as if he knew exactly what Eli had been thinking, while the other boy in the boat turned towards Imogen with raised eyebrows.

Matthias said, "Steward? You mean?"

"Yes," Imogen said.

Vito said, "And you were just with Waterboy over there?"

Eli wondered what information he was missing that made both Imogen and Vito dislike the boy so much, but asked, "Did you see how that happened?"

"Does it matter?" Matthias said, causing Vito to scoff. "That's just Wright."

Imogen smirked, looking past them to where Wright would be. "Well," she said. "At least it looks like he isn't going to drown this time."

Eli turned around.

Natasha and Algae had found an adult to talk to after all. They and the man they had retrieved were all gathered around Wright, helping him get to solid ground. Natasha grabbed at him to pull him out of the water while Algae pet the Water Horse's mane, and, if Eli heard the distant murmurs right, sung to distract and calm it. The adult didn't look to be doing much besides waving his wand about as if conducting. He wasn't even watching, instead looking over the rest of the first years gathered in the boats.

Matthias said, "That girl is either brave as Harry Potter, or a Muggleborn. She's going to catch Wright's bad luck."

Eli said, "What are you talking about?"

"Wright is cursed," Vito said, with all seriousness. "That's why everyone stays away from him."

"Cursed?" Eli said, looking to Imogen. "Really?"

"It's true," she said.

"If he was cursed, why would they let him come to Hogwarts?"

Imogen shrugged. "His father is one of the seven. And it's a family curse, not something he brought on himself."

That might be enough, Eli thought, but he still didn't think they were being altogether reasonable. Curses like that were rare, and had to be very powerful. Something so significant, he would have heard of from his father. Eli wasn't up to date on a lot of things, but he knew curses.

"How do you know?" Eli asked. "Have you seen this curse affect him? What exactly do you think the effects are? What triggers them?"

"Well, I don't know," Matthias said. "No one really knows much about the curse, but it's pretty obvious it's there. He gets into trouble all the time."

Vito said, "He gets other people into trouble too. When we met I shook his hand. Not a minute later, my hat blew off my head into the mud."

"A gust of wind is not proof," Eli said. He knew he wasn't being very friendly, but curses were serious.

"I liked that hat," Vito said. "It flew straight into the only mud puddle around. Look, I'm not saying let the guy drown, but he fell in for a reason."

Matthias said, "Everybody knows it— except for that girl, obviously."

"Natasha was nice to help him out," Imogen said, "but no good deed goes unpunished, right?"

Eli frowned at them all and looked back at the scene. Natasha, Algae, and Wright were settling into the last available boat with a lone girl. Algae climbed in the front of the boat while Wright and Natasha edged in behind the girl. When Wright stepped aboard, dripping wet, Algae scooted a little further away. Eli couldn't blame him. He didn't believe that Wright was cursed, but the boy probably smelled like pond scum.

With minimal thumping and intimidating amount of ease, Imogen stepped into the boat behind Vito and Matthias. Eli watched, then eyed the space between the boat and dock distrustfully. He didn't want to slip and become another Wright Abernathy, a pariah because of his clumsiness.

Imogen said, "Have you been in a boat before?"

"No," Eli replied, but before she could say anything else, he stepped in behind her. He took care not to look relieved that he did it without incident and without the embarrassment of Imogen cajoling him aboard.

Thankfully, the others were still partially distracted by Waterboy and Co. The adult's arrival had been signal enough for any lingering first years to settle into their boats, and he had called over his own with a flick of his wand.

Once the man had seated himself, he said, "Alright kids. Strap in." However, each boat drifted away from its dock regardless of what the people aboard did, so Eli didn't have to figure out what he'd meant by "Strap in."

The boats glided seamlessly towards the castle ahead of them. Vito and Matthias tested the limit of their boat's charms by leaning over the side, pushing at each other in a bid to make the other fall. Eli ignored them, instead admiring the weeping willows and floating candles appearing out of the fog as they passed. He spotted Vito's twin sitting peacefully in a boat with two girls, and he glanced at Imogen, wondering if she had made the boy leave his brother's boat to open up a spot, or if the boy had chosen to go on his own.

When the boats bumped lightly against the shore, its four occupants climbed out onto slightly wet gravel. Each boat drifted down into the water after it completed its task.

The man said, "Well come on, hurry up. Have to get you sorted."

Eli and Imogen raised their eyebrows at each other, but then joined the large group gathering before the doors of the castle. The man stood at the head of them all, on the first step of a set of granite stairs leading up. He seemed to be waiting for something.

A grinding noise signaled the movement of the tall double doors at the top of the stairs. They slowly parted, to reveal a man standing between them. The new brown-haired man, who for some reason had a sword strapped to his hip, glared down at the crowd, eyes moving until they stopped on his colleague. He said, "You're late."

Their guide shrugged, then nodded over to a dripping wet Wright. "Can't be the picture of punctual when students decide to take a swim."

"No, it's just your job."

Their guide frowned. "Right. You better get to it then," he said, before he nodded curtly in goodbye and left.

While everyone was still murmuring at the exchange, the brown-haired man pulled out his wand and fired a spell into the crowd. The red light streaked directly at Wright, who stepped back but didn't move fast enough to dodge. It hit full force, evaporating the water lingering on Wright.

"Everyone, to me," the man said, and although the spell had been innocent, no one disobeyed. He continued only when the crowd was arrayed over the steps before him. "Pay attention. My name is Mr. Bones. I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor here. If you wander off for whatever reason and don't get sorted, I won't come after you. But remember that you can't stay in this school if you don't have a house."

This caused a slight clamor to stay on the man's heels as he turned and stalked back through the entranceway. The students rushed inside, and the doors swung shut behind them, pitching the hall in darkness. Discontented whispers broke out. No lights were coming on, and the man with the sword wasn't saying anything. Eli, trapped in the middle of the crowd, got quite a few pokes and shoves from the more nervous first years.

Imogen whispered, "I don't see how we're supposed to follow him if we can't see him."

Someone far ahead said, "You could always use your other senses, but—"

Torches held by suits of armor lit up one by one and illuminated their guide twenty paces away and moving. Eli was pushed forward in the sudden wave of kids hurrying to catch up.

They moved forward in a trampling herd until they came upon another opening. The light inside was inconsistent, bright in some parts and black in others, with shadows that moved over the walls. Eli could see why when he got a look at the light's source. Paintings set in the daytime glowed with the sunshine they depicted, but the happily chattering figures inside obstructed what light escaped their frames. The students corralled together in the relatively stable light in the center of the room.

A set of doors set in the wall connecting to another hallway were just enough to keep the group's spirits up. Noise and light from the Great Hall poured through the crack underneath.

Mr. Bones stood before them, managing to be intimidating while dwarfed by doors five times larger than himself. He said, "When we go in, no greeting friends or relatives. There will be time enough for that later. Walk strait and stop in front of the head table, where you will wait to be sorted."

With that, the doors to the Great hall opened, and everyone around Eli pushed each other to have their first view of the great hall. Eli let them go, waiting for his senses to adjust to the flood of light and noise before he started walking. He blinked as he looked around, until he saw another first-year separating from the rest. Algae stood at the back of the crowd, conspicuous in that he seemed to be more focused on the shadow of the adjoining hallway than the Great Hall. Eli tried edging his way over to him to see what he found so interesting, but he soon gave up fighting the crowd. The flow of students pulled him into the Great Hall.

Inside, four grand tables worth of students focused on the entering first-years. Lit wall sconces and candelabras bathed everything in yellow light and warmed the room, while countless tapestries rippled from the equalization of the air. While Eli's group shuffled forward, the older students chattered, only lulling briefly when a figure at the head table told them to quiet. Imogen appeared by Eli again, and they exchanged nodded greetings.

They made their way to a square platform in front of a long table where the rest of the adults sat. A man sitting in the largest chair at the center stood, then held the tip of his want to his throat to amplify his voice.

He talked while he walked around the table. "Dear students, my name is Earnest Dartmouth. As headmaster it is my pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For those students returning, I expect your continued respect. For our new brothers and sisters, a feast is in order in celebration of your arrival, but first we must determine which of the four tables you will be sitting with tonight, and for years to come." He got to the center of the platform and conjured a simple stool with a tattered brown witch's hat sitting on top. "This hat will tell whether you hold the values of cunning Slytherin, brave Gryffindor, clever Ravenclaw, or faithful Hufflepuff. Whichever house it calls, has the power to change your life."

Mr. Bones walked up the small raised platform's steps and conjured a scroll from the air to hand to the headmaster. The great hall quieted except for the crinkle of the parchment and the swish of robes as the Headmaster officiously unrolled it.

He started talking for a second before he stopped and held up his wand to amplify his voice again. "Without further hesitation, I call up Micah Young."

The first years shifted a little to let a boy to the front. At the tables, students craned their necks to see the first sorting of the year, while Mr. Bones waited patiently with the hat in hand. Micah traveled up the stairs, then stood for a second in front of them all before sitting down. The stool was a rickety thing, and Micah looked like he was scared it would break under him. He pushed brown hair out of his eyes to look out at the people watching him, before Mr. Bones placed the hat on his head.

After a few moments went by, the boy looked at Mr. Bones, and said, "It's not doing anything."

Dartmouth walked between them to inspect the problem. "The old thing fell asleep."

People snickered or outright laughed, and the headmaster waved his hand to try to quiet them again. He used his wand to poke the hat atop Micah's head. Micah looked annoyed, but it worked. The hat suddenly came alive. Its brim ripped opened and folds appeared to reveal a face.

The mouth moved and sung, making the leather flake, "You might belong in Gryffindor where dwell the brave of hear—"

The students were still laughing, even the nervous first years, and the Headmaster cut the song off. "Stop, stop, you're already on someone's head. Sort the boy."

Sighing, the hat said, "You are missing out on a wonderful performance, but I suppose I best get to it." It scrunched its eyes, and Micah's annoyed look became glazed.

"Useless thing," muttered the headmaster, who walked back to his podium.

Mr. Bones folded his arms to wait, and it wasn't long before the hat opened his brim again, this time to call out, "SLYTHERIN."

Held breaths let out with a disappointed mutter from every table but the one on the right. Micah sat still until Mr. Bones removed the hat from his head. He walked down the platform's stairs to the politely clapping table, fixing his hair as he went.

Dartmouth called out the next name before he was seated. "Tristan Wolfe."

The hat sorted him Slytherin, inducing another round of polite clapping and disappointed sighs. A string of names were called, bringing with them kids that seemed nervous, tried to hide their nervousness, or hid their nervousness well enough that they got by looking cool and composed in comparison. Achilles Webb and Lea Ward were the first and second Ravenclaws in a row, greeted with more clapping all around, and River Wainwright earned a chorus of whoops for becoming a Gryffindor. Imogen gave an encouraging gesture to Alistair Travers, Vito's twin, and predicted Slytherin for him. Alistair sat for a full minute before he got a sour look on his face, and the hat announced he was a Hufflepuff.

Imogen whispered to Eli, "It's probably good he didn't get Slytherin. He is so bad at hiding his emotions."

"Unless he's secretly thrilled he's a Hufflepuff," he whispered back. Imogen blinked at him once, then they both struggled to stifle their laughter. They only calmed down when a redhead girl noticed and tried to ask what was funny.

Vito Travers looked curiously to his brother slumped on the Hufflepuff bench as he was being sorted, but when the hat called out Slytherin, he walked to the table and sat looking as content as anyone could.

The next girl, Deirdre Strauss, hugged her friend before she went to the platform. Imogen frowned at them, folding her arms. She said, "Those are the girls I was sitting with before Algae found me."

After Deirdre was sorted into Slytherin and had walked confidently to the table, Imogen smiled at Eli and whispered, "And with that sorting, Slytherin has lost all appeal."

As more names went by, the seated students decided to start the feast early. They passed around plates of food and talked, getting distracted enough that they forgot to clap after the hat had called out the house for an otherwise unremarkable first year. Eventually, Hufflepuffs starting clapping for the girl, even though she was sorted into Gryffindor, which confused her enough that she almost sat at the wrong table. Headmaster Dartmouth glanced sideways at the events from behind his podium, but he continued calling out names, while Mr. Bones acted like he hadn't noticed the disruption.

Then Dartmouth called Elias Steward.

Eli didn't move long enough that Imogen tapped his arm, encouraging him. He hadn't thought he was nervous, but he found himself taking extra care not to trip as he stepped up to the podium. He sat straight on the stool, and got a second to look at the entire student body. His brother was at the Slytherin table, laughing at something the girl next to him had said. Ethan faced away, but Eli thought he saw him turning his head before the leathery darkness of the hat obscured his vision.

Eli immediately felt it speak to him, but the words were confined to his own hearing.

"Ah, you want truth I see," it said.

Somewhat startled, Eli nonetheless replied, "A lie is something people tell you when they don't respect you enough to tell you the truth."

"Quoting your father," the hat said, and Eli felt like it was laughing at him. "Odd, your father isn't much one for truth himself."

"How do you know?"

"I can see your memories."

Eli shifted uncomfortably, and the hat said, "Don't worry, I keep what I learn to myself. Besides, I already know what house you belong in."

The hat's voice retreated from Eli's mind, and it shouted, "Hufflepuff!"


End file.
